{"id":1226,"date":"2013-03-07T09:27:58","date_gmt":"2013-03-07T14:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/?p=1226"},"modified":"2013-03-07T09:27:58","modified_gmt":"2013-03-07T14:27:58","slug":"lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/","title":{"rendered":"Lenten Reading: A couple of thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A couple of thoughts have popped into my mind the last few days as I read and reflected on the SOTM\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

First, John\u2019s decision to give up his iPhone<\/a> reminded me of a similar choice by my friend Ragan Sutterfield:<\/p>\n

In Praise of Single Function Devices<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

Ragan writes here:
\nI\u2019ve been wearing a watch recently.\u00a0 It\u2019s nice\u2014it tells me the time.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also been carrying a pocket calendar.\u00a0 It has dates with space to put in appointments and a few blank pages for notes.\u00a0 I also have a phone I\u2019ve been using.\u00a0 It has internet access if I absolutely need it, but a painful pared down version\u2014it is not \u201csmart.\u201d\u00a0 I text now only for critical messages, my phone\u2019s non-QWERT keyboard is too cumbersome.<\/p>\n

Shortly before Christmas my iPhone broke, so I pulled an old phone from my drawer that somehow resurrected, and I have been using it ever since.\u00a0 Since my iPhone was my phone and calendar I\u2019ve had to fill those functions with other things and somehow in the process I rediscovered the joys of single function devices.
\nRead the full post<\/a>\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Secondly, Scot McKnight has a wonderful new reflection on how we read the Sermon on the Mount\u2026<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 Major Sermon<\/a><\/h3>\n

He concludes:
\nThere is something fundamental to the Sermon in the form Jesus gave it: \u00a0powerful kingdom demands for kingdom people. The demand is Jesus\u2019 evangelistic confrontation with his audience to decide whether they want to come to him and follow him or not.<\/p>\n

Read the full post<\/a>\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple of thoughts have popped into my mind the last few days as I read and reflected on the SOTM\u2026 First, John\u2019s decision to give up his iPhone reminded me of a similar choice by my friend Ragan Sutterfield: In Praise of Single Function Devices Ragan writes here: I\u2019ve been wearing a watch recently.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[202,83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lent","category-scripture"],"yoast_head":"\nLenten Reading: A couple of thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A couple of thoughts have popped into my mind the last few days as I read and reflected on the SOTM... First, John's decision to give up his iPhone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lenten Reading: A couple of thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A couple of thoughts have popped into my mind the last few days as I read and reflected on the SOTM... First, John's decision to give up his iPhone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Slow Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-07T14:27:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christopher Smith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christopher Smith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/\",\"name\":\"Lenten Reading: A couple of thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-07T14:27:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-07T14:27:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/#\/schema\/person\/ab0ab77c4d00c2b846694b86d5498f71\"},\"description\":\"A couple of thoughts have popped into my mind the last few days as I read and reflected on the SOTM... First, John's decision to give up his iPhone\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lenten Reading: A couple of thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/\",\"name\":\"Slow Church\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/#\/schema\/person\/ab0ab77c4d00c2b846694b86d5498f71\",\"name\":\"Christopher Smith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e60c00066ec1e997f25a900d180b9240?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e60c00066ec1e997f25a900d180b9240?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Christopher Smith\"},\"description\":\"Chris Smith is the editor of The Englewood Review of Books. He is a member of Englewood Christian Church on the Near Eastside of Indianapolis and author of the new Patheos ebook The Virtue of Dialogue\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/englewoodreview.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/author\/christophersmith\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lenten Reading: A couple of thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount","description":"A couple of thoughts have popped into my mind the last few days as I read and reflected on the SOTM... First, John's decision to give up his iPhone","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lenten Reading: A couple of thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount","og_description":"A couple of thoughts have popped into my mind the last few days as I read and reflected on the SOTM... First, John's decision to give up his iPhone","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/","og_site_name":"Slow Church","article_published_time":"2013-03-07T14:27:58+00:00","author":"Christopher Smith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christopher Smith","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/","name":"Lenten Reading: A couple of thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-03-07T14:27:58+00:00","dateModified":"2013-03-07T14:27:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/#\/schema\/person\/ab0ab77c4d00c2b846694b86d5498f71"},"description":"A couple of thoughts have popped into my mind the last few days as I read and reflected on the SOTM... First, John's decision to give up his iPhone","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2013\/03\/07\/lenten-reading-a-couple-of-thoughts-on-the-sermon-on-the-mount\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lenten Reading: A couple of thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/","name":"Slow Church","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/#\/schema\/person\/ab0ab77c4d00c2b846694b86d5498f71","name":"Christopher Smith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e60c00066ec1e997f25a900d180b9240?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e60c00066ec1e997f25a900d180b9240?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Christopher Smith"},"description":"Chris Smith is the editor of The Englewood Review of Books. He is a member of Englewood Christian Church on the Near Eastside of Indianapolis and author of the new Patheos ebook The Virtue of Dialogue","sameAs":["http:\/\/englewoodreview.org"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/author\/christophersmith\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}